Improvement in tag-hooks



'E'. P. MARSTN @L N. M. PHILLIPS.

. Tag-Hooks.

N0. 143,364, PatentedSeptember 30,1873.

Qi ai "SW @una yUNITHSD STATES PATENT CFFICE.

THoMAs P. MAHsToN AND NATHAN M. PHILLIPS, oF NEw'YoHH, N. Y.,

ASSIGNORS TO NATHAN M. PHILLIPS.

IMPROVEMENT IN TAG-HOOKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,364, dated September 30, 1873; application filed.l January 6, 1872.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS P. MARSTON and NATHAN M. PHILLIPS, of New York city, in the State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Tag-Hooks, of which the following is a specification:

It has long been common to attach tags of pasteboard, paper, glazed muslin, leather, parchment, or the like, to bales of cloth and other -goods by wire hooks. This invention is intended to facilitate this operation.

The hook and its adjuncts are of a form which we believe can be easiljyT produced by machinery, and the wire, if made of reasonably elastic material, will serve for a great niunber of times. The locking is complete and rehable, and the point of the hook lies so close to the other parts as to be unobjectionable.

Omitting all description of the machinery for its production, which we have not yet matured to our full and perfect satisfaction, and

may make the subject of further Letters Patent, we will proceed to describe the hook and its adjuncts by the aid of the accompanying` drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a side view of the hook, open. Fig. 2 is a view of the. hook from the front, open; and Fig. 3 is a side view, closed.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

The entire device is formed of a single piece of springwire. We will designatelits several parts as l, 2, 3, &c. 1 is the loop or ring, which takes hold, in the ordinary manner, of a tag of parchment or other material. 2 is a straight portion of the shank. 3 is a semi-ring or short curved portion of the wire lying in a plane at right angles to the shank 2. 4 is a further straight portion of the shank. 5 is a ring, or nearly complete ring, of wire, adapted to retain thc edge of the cloth or other goods in which the hook is inserted. 6 is a further straight wire, ending in a sharp point, 'marked 7.

The operation of the invention will be readily understood. The sharp point 7 is introduced and the hook made to connect properly with the goods 5 then the point 7, with the straight portion 6 near the point of the hook, is sprung by the thumb-nail or otherwise into the position shown in Fig. 3, where its elasticity holds it tightly in the semicircnlar curve 3 as long as may be desired.

To release the tag-hook the nger or other part is applied to the straight part 6 near the point, and it is snapped out of its lodgment in the curve 3, and allowed to resume the condition shown in Fig. l. The hook may now be readily disengaged from the goods and retained for future use.

We prefer that the straight part 4 of the shank shall Stand at such a distance from the straight part 6 as will allow the edge of the cloth to extend between when necessary. This is frequently necessitated by carelessness in attaching the hook. It is a great advantage to be able to attach the hooks without being scrupulously careful how far from the edge the hook is inserted; but we deem it an essential feature of the invention that the straight part 2 shall lie close to the point when the part 6 is engaged with the offset 3.

We claim as our invention- The self-locking spring-hook having the simple offset 3, formed with a curve, as shown, for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our names in presence of two subscribing wit- DBSSGS.

T. P. MARSTON. N. M. PHILLIPS. Witnesses THOMAS PHUDEN, C. KIHRSTED. 

